nice little piece of business by Hampshire bring in Ajmal for the last couple of months of the season. Should push them over the line if they can keep in contention for the rest of the season. Methinks that second division batsmen with not a lot left to play for on turning wickets at the rosebowl will be easy targets.

21-12-2012, 07:41 AM

BoyBrumby

Quote:

Originally Posted by theegyptian

Klinger joining Gloucestershire as captain. Not the worst decision Bracewell has ever made. Probably the best Glos could do within wage constraints - and Klinger should be available for the whole season.

I'm sure in the back of his head being in England during an Ashes tour played a tiny factor for Klinger too.

Two or three injuries and just maybe...

21-12-2012, 08:26 AM

Prince EWS

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoyBrumby

I'm sure in the back of his head being in England during an Ashes tour played a tiny factor for Klinger too.

Two or three injuries and just maybe...

Yep; if he's scoring lots of runs in England at precisely the right time it'll make him much more selectable.

21-12-2012, 11:18 AM

grecian

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoyBrumby

I'm sure in the back of his head being in England during an Ashes tour played a tiny factor for Klinger too.

Two or three injuries and just maybe...

Ahh, I remember Shaun Young, 'twas glorious.:)

21-12-2012, 08:26 PM

brockley

Saeed Ajmal signs for Ajmal for George Bailey when on t20 adventures,news signal Bailey is our worst t20 player and will be sacked as captain and player.:D

Actually quite like the move from Notts and don't blame them at all. There's so much Championship cricket in the opening weeks of the season, if you lose three of your top five batsmen your chances of winning the Championship could all be over by the time they return.

Course there's no guarantee the three of them would have earned an IPL contract. I understand Lumb wanting to go (I understand all of them wanting to go from a financial point of view) but both Hales and Patel should really be concentrating on nailing their longer format form to remain in England's Test thoughts, in Patel's case, or make a case for moving up the pecking order in Hales' case with the opening slot not nailed down yet.

Yeah, it's a risky one. I certainly have no moral objections to them taking that stance, although I do wonder if it'll mean that rather than just missing out on their IPL players in the early season games, they'll just miss them for the whole season as they sign for a different county.

22-12-2012, 06:48 AM

theegyptian

i actually agree with some of the cricinfo commentings by people saying that it's the counties jobs to produce england players and do what is best for English cricket. There is no doubt in my mind that some of these players could benifit from IPL cricket- moreso than if they were to play the start of the county season. Hales for instance would get invaluable experience of playing in different conditions in front of big crowds. Chances are Hales will never be a test player but he could be a good T20 and ODI player. England would probably benifit more from him going to play this IPL than the start of the county championship.

For county teams the IPL massively disrupts the county seasons if you do have a couple of players playing IPL. Essex is the most obvious example. They have Owais Shah, Ten Doeschate and in the past Bopara. Last season Ten Doeschate returned in terrible knick having not played much in the IPL straight into completely opposite conditions. Shah returned in good knick and had a decent season but he only played half of the games in the CC. You also have to look at the players who play when Shah and Ten Doeschate aren't there but then have to drop out when they re-appear. Counties are decently compensated with money but the disruption it causes means generally if you've got more than 1 IPL player it's going to be a real struggle and you likely won't be able to produce anything in the CC.

Essex likely will struggle again this season- I was surprised when they brought in Shah in the first place because they knew about his IPL contract and with Ten Doeschate there already they should have forecasted the inevitable problems that would follow.

But how can you tell players like Lumb who is coming towards the end of his career and has limited scope for further international honours (he isn't playing test or ODI cricket and probably wont be playing t20 for much longer) that he can't fulfill IPL commitments. It seems harsh given the contract is going to be very large in relation to his current county contract- and other counties have allowed their players to play IPL. Patel or Hales are in different situations and still have serious england hopes.

Notts were in a tough position having a number of players interested in IPL cricket. They may have allowed 1 to play but 3 or 4 starts to decimate a squad. None or all is probably the only way they could have gone if they didn't want to cause ructions in the dressing room.

22-12-2012, 06:49 AM

Howe_zat

Didn't Samit reject an IPL deal last year?

22-12-2012, 06:53 AM

BoyBrumby

Quote:

Originally Posted by Howe_zat

Didn't Samit reject an IPL deal last year?

Can't remember. Think Ravi did in 2011 and there was a but of hurrumping from the cricket press when the IPL-signed Morgan got Colly's spot ahead of him.

22-12-2012, 07:08 AM

Woodster

Quote:

Originally Posted by theegyptian

i actually agree with some of the cricinfo commentings by people saying that it's the counties jobs to produce england players and do what is best for English cricket. There is no doubt in my mind that some of these players could benifit from IPL cricket- moreso than if they were to play the start of the county season. Hales for instance would get invaluable experience of playing in different conditions in front of big crowds. Chances are Hales will never be a test player but he could be a good T20 and ODI player. England would probably benifit more from him going to play this IPL than the start of the county championship.

For county teams the IPL massively disrupts the county seasons if you do have a couple of players playing IPL. Essex is the most obvious example. They have Owais Shah, Ten Doeschate and in the past Bopara. Last season Ten Doeschate returned in terrible knick having not played much in the IPL straight into completely opposite conditions. Shah returned in good knick and had a decent season but he only played half of the games in the CC. You also have to look at the players who play when Shah and Ten Doeschate aren't there but then have to drop out when they re-appear. Counties are decently compensated with money but the disruption it causes means generally if you've got more than 1 IPL player it's going to be a real struggle and you likely won't be able to produce anything in the CC.

Essex likely will struggle again this season- I was surprised when they brought in Shah in the first place because they knew about his IPL contract and with Ten Doeschate there already they should have forecasted the inevitable problems that would follow.

But how can you tell players like Lumb who is coming towards the end of his career and has limited scope for further international honours (he isn't playing test or ODI cricket and probably wont be playing t20 for much longer) that he can't fulfill IPL commitments. It seems harsh given the contract is going to be very large in relation to his current county contract- and other counties have allowed their players to play IPL. Patel or Hales are in different situations and still have serious england hopes.

Notts were in a tough position having a number of players interested in IPL cricket. They may have allowed 1 to play but 3 or 4 starts to decimate a squad. None or all is probably the only way they could have gone if they didn't want to cause ructions in the dressing room.

Essex's batting line-up as you say is decimated at the start of the CC campaign, and they are always trying to recover from that in the second half of the CC season. But they knew exactly what they were getting when they signed Shah, so I have no problems with him going to the IPL. Essex presumably were happy for him to do this and to have a very good player for half a season.

It depends how you view the development of a player. I think Hales game in the shorter formats will improve by playing in the IPL, but surely we should be looking at developing the games of players for Test cricket ? I don't agree that Hales should already be pigeon-holed into the LO category, an improving first-class average of just under 40 is very reasonable for a developing 23-year old, and for me, he would be better served learning and developing his skills in four-day cricket at the start of an English season.

These days there are so many academy and Lions tours in the winters that he can learn about batting in different conditions then, without just going having a slog in the IPL.

You do hear of players supposedly becoming better players for the IPL experience (while also attempting to justify their decision to go for a large sum of money) by playing in front of crowds and talking about their game with some top class players, and I'm sure that does help, but I cannot imagine it is more beneficial for creating future Test players than playing several four-day matches in a competitive league.

I don't blame certain players for joining the IPL when they are so well paid, especially those without any chance of playing Test cricket in the future, but I don't believe that players who want to play at the highest level should cash in just yet.

22-12-2012, 07:13 AM

Woodster

Quote:

Originally Posted by Howe_zat

Didn't Samit reject an IPL deal last year?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoyBrumby

Can't remember. Think Ravi did in 2011 and there was a but of hurrumping from the cricket press when the IPL-signed Morgan got Colly's spot ahead of him.

Yes I can't remember for certain but I do think you're right about Samit.

Bopara certainly turned it down, which I was delighted about, but he then had a shocking time at the start of the CC season and could barely buy a run! Think it was at the time he became exasperated with the Tiflex ball and no use of the heavy rollers.

22-12-2012, 07:16 AM

theegyptian

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woodster

I don't blame certain players for joining the IPL when they are so well paid, especially those without any chance of playing Test cricket in the future, but I don't believe that players who want to play at the highest level should cash in just yet.

Yes this is why Patel and Hales probably aren't too disappointed.

Lumb may have more reasons to be resentful given he is never playing test cricket for england; he is coming towards the end of his career; and 20 over cricket is the one format where he has any chance of playing for England - and so it would be both benficial to him financially and to English Cricket as a whole if he played in the IPL imo.